Feb 28, 2015 - Four Union University history department professors joined Phi Alpha Theta student member Faith Bagley in attending the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at Austin Peay State University (APSU) on February 28, 2015. The faculty members were Drs. Henry Allen, Keith Bates, Stephen Carls, and Terry Lindley. Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls of the University of Tennessee at Martin also traveled with the group to the conference.
Allen and Lindley served as panel chairs/commentators during the conference’s second session. Allen headed a panel on “Religion,” while Lindley oversaw one entitled “Fear Driving Politics.” Christopher King, a student at Tennessee Technological University and a presenter on Allen’s panel, won the conference’s best undergraduate paper award in world history with his paper called “Joan of Arc’s Christus Dei: God’s Favor and the French Kingship.” The best undergraduate paper prize in American history went to Lee University’s Aaron Chin, who participated in Lindley’s panel with a paper on “Convinced by Circumstances: How Secession Saved the Constitution in New York, 1788.”
Carls, the national president of Phi Alpha Theta, represented the society’s national headquarters at the conference luncheon. During the luncheon program, he talked about the organization’s website, its online merchandise store, and the 2016 biennial convention in Orlando. He also gave a Peeps cookbook to conference co-chair Dr. Minoa Uffelman and a Peeps pop art mug to co-chair Dr. Jason Verber as he thanked them for their work on the conference. In addition, he recognized both Dr. Graydon Tunstall, the executive director of Phi Alpha Theta, with a Peeps Plush Chick, and Dr. George Pesely, the former faculty advisor to APSU’s Phi Alpha Theta chapter, with two Peeps ballpoint pens. Union’s Delta-Psi chapter received its charter in 1953 from the then Phi Alpha Theta headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania; that was the same year that the manufacture of Peeps candies began in nearby Bethlehem. Tunstall served as the luncheon keynote speaker, focusing on “The Origins of the Middle East Problems.”
Bagley was a member of an afternoon panel called “Varieties of Civil War Experience.” She delivered a paper on “Death and Suffering: Civil War Prison Camps in the North and South.” Dr. Timothy Wesley of APSU’s history department served as the panel chair/commentator and had considerable praise for Bagley’s presentation.
Members of the Union University delegation stand with National Executive Director Dr. Graydon Tunstall (front row, left) at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference on February 28, 2015. They are: (front row) Faith Bagley (center) and Dr. Henry Allen (right); back row (left to right) Dr. Keith Bates, Dr. Stephen Carls, and Dr. Terry Lindley.
Dr. Terry Lindley (center) stands with the paper presenters for the panel on "Fear Driving Politics" at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at Austin Peay State University on February 28, 2015. The presenters are Aaron Chin of Lee University and McAllie Givens of Lee University.
Dr. Henry Allen introduces his panel session on "Religion" at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at Austin Peay State University on February 28, 2015.
Under the guidance of Professor Cindy Marsh (left), students at Austin Peay State University demonstrate the school's Goldsmith Press on February 28, 2015, by printing posters about the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference for conference attendees to take home with them.
Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls (left) and Union University history major Faith Bagley enjoy lunch together at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference on February 28, 2015.
Phi Alpha Theta Conference co-chair Dr. Minoa Uffelman and National Phi Alpha Theta President Dr. Stephen Carls smile for the camera on February 28, 2015, after Carls presented Uffelman with a Peeps recipe book and chocolate-covered Peeps during a thank you presentation.
National Phi Alpha Theta President Dr. Stephen Carls (left) presents Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta conference co-chair Dr. Jason Verber with a Peeps Pop Art Mug and some chocolate-covered Peeps during the conference luncheon program at Austin Peay State University on February 28, 2015.
Dr. Graydon Tunstall (left), the National Executive Director of Phi Alpha Theta, accepts a Peeps Plush Chick and some chocolate-covered Peeps from National President Dr. Stephen Carls at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference on February 28, 2015.
Attendees at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference luncheon at Austin Peay State University on February 28, 2015, listen to Dr. Graydon Tunstall deliver his keynote address on "The Origins of the Middle East Problems."
Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta conference co-chair Dr. Jason Verber (left) presents a gift to luncheon keynote speaker Dr. Graydon Tunstall (center) as an expression of appreciation for his luncheon talk. Tunstall's son Allen is on the right.
Members of the Phi Alpha Theta conference panel called "Varieties of Civil War Experience" join for a photo. They are: (left to right) Steven Knapp of East Tennessee State University, Faith Bagley of Union University, Kayla Maples of Lee University, and Dr. Timothy Wesley of Austin Peay State University.
Union University student Faith Bagley entertains a question about her paper on "Death and Suffering: Civil War Prison Camps in the North and South" during the panel session on "Varieties of Civil War Experience" at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference on February 28, 2015.